What a difference a day makes.

Instead of hats and suncream, brollies and water-proofs were needed to shield people from the weather which turned heavy and thundery yesterday.

Waking up you could have expected another day full of sunshine with temperatures at 20C (68F) by about 8am.

But the skies became gloomy with intermittent heavy showers, thunder and lightning across the region.

Forecaster for Weatherquest, Dan Holley, said the weekend’s weather would see a return to more sunny spells.

He said: “I expect temperatures over the weekend to be between 22-24C. It will be dry with sunny spells but it could be quite breezy.

“The biggest chance of showers will be on Saturday afternoon but it will be nothing like today’s storms.”

Readers sent in dramatic photographs of the storms in several towns and villages including Ipswich, Orford, and Wivenhoe.

The heavy rain caused flash flooding in parts of the region making it difficult for motorists to pass.

A spokesman for Suffolk police said they were contacted by the Highways Agency to put warning signs up.

Some of the readers’ pictures show undulatus asperatus clouds which are formed when ‘elevated’ thunderstorms move up from France and the English Channel.

Mr Holley said it was rare to see this type of cloud formation in the region.

On Thursday parts of East Anglia reached temperatures of 32.2C (90F). Highs of 30.4C (86.7F) were registered in Bury St Edmunds and Cavendish but did not eclipse the year’s record temperature for Suffolk of 32.6C (90.7F) in Santon Downham, near Thetford.

Temperatures are expected to be above-average next week, up to 24C (75F). But more unsettled weather is expected with sunny spells and scattered showers.